Hot Seat
by pipster
Summary: Fic Challenge: The crew gets sick and Hoshi has to be "captain".
1. Prologue

Title: Hot seat  
  
Author: Pip  
  
Beta: Allie  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Codes: Tu/S, A/T (slightly)  
  
Warnings: none  
  
Category: Humor, Action, Challenge  
  
Parts: 5  
  
Author's Note: Challenge is Hoshi gets command  
  
Prologue  
  
Trip ran through the field, his phase pistol held tight in his grip. His long legs flew over the dry grass. His face dripped with sweat and fell onto his now dirty white suit, courtesy of a previous roll on the ground. His breath was husky and the sound of his fiercely beating heart thumped in his ears. He kept running even though he could no longer hear the people screaming at him.  
  
He took a short stop to catch his breath and take a gulp of water from the canister in his jacket pocket. The cool water hit his parched throat so nicely. He sighed and just as he placed the cap on the water he heard the screaming catching up to him.  
  
"Shit," he muttered and began to run again.  
  
Trip needed to outrun Jos; he couldn't let the two-faced weasel's men catch him. Jos would laugh while feeding him to the dogs.  
  
It had all started with Trip, Hoshi, and Travis going planet side to learn about this primitive alien group. They had fun learning customs that mirrored Southern Earth in the 1940s. The people were homely by human standards, but friendly and happy to have company.   
  
The Gran had reached warp status fifty years ago but put space exploration on hold because they were recovering from a recently ended war. Trip was taking an envious look at their warp drive, which was more evolved than Enterprise's, Hoshi was learning their language, and Travis was teaching their few pilots better skills.  
  
Then it had gone bad when Jos' sister decided to try to come on to Trip. Mali was one of the ugliest girls he had met and he bluntly told her that he wasn't attracted to her. Trip told Mali he had only wanted to be friends and Enterprise wouldn't be around for long. Mali pretended to be okay with that but then she told her brother. Jos rounded up his friends and now the chase was on.  
  
Trip couldn't get the look Hoshi gave him out of his head as he told her, "See ya later, darlin'. I got some runnin' t'do."  
  
Hoshi promised to contact Jon and then look for Travis.   
  
As Trip began running again, he looked behind him and saw Jos catching up. He was yelling insults that Trip couldn't quite make out. Trip reached the top of the hill and ran down the other side. He reached around for his communicator and opened it up, yelling frantically into it   
  
"Cap'n gimmie th' hell outta here! I'm bein' chased by some locals with big guns!"   
  
It wasn't Jon who answered, but T'Pol. If a Vulcan could be amused, T'Pol was.  
  
"Ensign Sato just contacted us, Commander Tucker," she replied.  
  
"Then why the hell haven't ya beamed me outta here?" Trip said, annoyed.  
  
"Captain Archer decided it would be better if you ran a bit farther," T'Pol answered.  
  
Trip scowled as he realized Jos was right on his tail.  
  
The Gran looked like blue-eyed humans but they spoke Grannan.   
  
Jos had sandy hair and dark skin. His sister, Mali - who had gotten Trip in this mess - had dark brown hair and a crooked nose. She had thin pale lips and swore like a sailor. Trip couldn't stand her.  
  
The Southern gentleman made his way to the end of the road. The drop off seemed to laugh at Trip as he tried to stop in time without falling off. The Gran approached in no time and were behind him. Trip looked at Jos' grin and down at the 300-foot drop. He waved his hand and jumped off the hill. Jos and his friends dropped their guns and watched as the human plummeted down.  
  
Trip tried to keep ahold of his communicator and yelled at T'Pol, "Get me the hell outta here, T'Pol, before I smash into the ground!"  
  
Trip's body shimmered blue and he disappeared. Jos took his dirty gray hat off and threw it to the ground, stamping on it. He didn't know the humans had that much technology.  
  
***  
  
Trip appeared in the transporter room with the communicator still in front of his wide-open mouth.   
  
He looked at the guy in at the console, who gave him a huge shrug of confusion. Trip bent his knees and placed his hands on his legs, catching his breath. He stood up and took a gulp of water from the canister. He was surprised he had not lost it in the drop. He had, though, lost the phase pistol and grimaced at the thought of the lecture he was sure to receive.   
  
Finally, Trip stepped off the transporter pad and left the room. He had a Vulcan to strangle. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One  
  
Entering the bridge, he realized Hoshi and Travis were at their posts. He bit his lip fiercely and then let his anger out.  
  
"How long ago did you contact the ship, Hosh?" Trip asked, eyeing her. She was even dressed in her uniform instead of her cute, pink dress.  
  
Hoshi looked up sheepishly, she smiled meekly. "Two minutes after you started running."  
  
Trip threw his arms down along with the canister of water. He bent over to pick it up and then shook it at Hoshi. Trip gave Jon a short glare, who was only smiling. Then Trip glared at Travis, who was chuckling. Lastly, he glared angrily at T'Pol and shook the water at her.  
  
"I'm goin' to sickbay, I think I pulled out m' back. Ya'll should be ashamed of yourselves," Trip replied and walked out of the bridge.  
  
Hoshi stopped smiling meekly and began to laugh. So did the rest of the bridge. They all knew that Trip needed the run. Archer had already contacted the Gran and apologized on behalf of Trip. The Gran said Jos and his friends would be fined for giving Trip hell for no reason.   
  
***  
  
"You lost a phase pistol, Mr. Tucker," Lieutenant Reed said almost naggingly. "Do you realize that you've basically given these aliens a bit of our technology?"  
  
Trip ruffled his sandy blonde hair and took a swig of beer. He stared at the British armory officer across from him and then shook his head, uncaring.  
  
"You don't bloody care, do you, Sir?" Malcolm mussed and went back to his drink.   
  
Trip shrugged as Hoshi approached both of them and took up a chair. She glanced at Trip and his eyes twinkled happily.  
  
"So, did Jos beat you up too bad?" Hoshi asked.  
  
"Actually," Trip said, taking the last swig. "He didn't catch me once. Damn, but was he pissed." Trip chuckled heartily.  
  
"Sorry we didn't do much to stop it," Hoshi said. "Sounds like we'll be going back tomorrow to clear anything up.  
  
Trip shook his head. "I can't help it if I don't like his sister."  
  
Malcolm laughed; he too didn't see why everyone thought Jos' sister was a damsel. Rude, maybe. Malcolm would give her that.  
  
Hoshi stifled her laughter. Only she and Trip knew about them. There was only room in Trip's heart for Hoshi.  
  
Malcolm coughed and felt as if he was coming down with something. It was probably nothing, he would be fine. They would be heading down to transporter room very soon.  
  
***  
  
"Cap'n, I gotta thank ya for not makin' me go on the away mission this time. I dun think I could face Jos or his sister again," Trip thanked Archer for the hundredth time.  
  
Jon smiled and patted Trip on the back. "No problem, Trip. You've got the bridge. I didn't think Hoshi needed to come down with us this time either."  
  
Trip nodded. He would be on the bridge with Hoshi and a skeleton crew. Jon, Malcolm, Travis, and T'Pol would be going to the planet to apologize for the misunderstanding.  
  
Jon stepped into the transporter room and onto the pad. He nodded and they were all beamed to the planet's surface.  
  
***  
  
When the sensation ended, Jon looked around and noticed the leader of the planet walking towards them.   
  
The older man, with long, white hair and a wrinkled face smiled warmly and reached out for Jon's hand.  
  
"Captain Archer! It's so nice to see you again," Nak greeted him.  
  
"Governor Nak, a pleasure," Jon smiled. "Listen, it seems we need to clear up a problem from earlier today..."  
  
"Do not worry about it! Jos has been fined for harassment and the problem is in the past," Nak replied. "Is there anything we can get you? Food? Drink? How about we continue the treaty between our worlds?"  
  
Archer smiled. They all seemed like good ideas right now, but for now they would try to peacefully reconvene the treaty talks.  
  
"Sounds good," Jon replied and they headed toward the capital building only a few steps away.  
  
As the away team entered the building, Malcolm began to clear his throat several times. T'Pol was the first to glance his way. His eyes were red and watery.  
  
"Are you well, Lieutenant Reed?" T'Pol asked.  
  
Malcolm nodded. "Must be allergies."  
  
The Vulcan cocked her head.   
  
"It is unlikely for you to have an allergic reaction to anything here. Our scans indicated nothing that would trigger such a reaction in humans or Vulcans."   
  
Malcolm shrugged as Archer joined in on the discussion.   
  
"Malcolm?" he asked, concerned. "Maybe you should head back to the ship and see Doctor Phlox."  
  
"That won't be necessary, Sir. I'm quite needed here at your side in case of another incident."  
  
"I doubt there will be any incident, Malcolm," Archer said, seeming to blow off any concerns.   
  
The armory officer gave in and headed out of the building.  
  
Nak glanced at Archer.  
  
"Allergies," Archer replied as he sneezed. "Appears I might have the same problem."  
  
Travis tried to stifle a laugh as he sat down at the marble table. Archer looked over at him and smiled. Then he sneezed again.  
  
"Captain?" T'Pol questioned.  
  
"I'm just sneezing, T'Pol," Jon chuckled as Nak handed out the papers once again.  
  
The meeting went on without any problems. A treaty was reached by the end of the day and the away team headed back to the ship. Archer would be sending the information off to Starfleet and then they would finalize every thing. 


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
"Lieutenant Reed is suffering from a severe cold," Phlox replied, placing his tools on the counter.  
  
Archer nodded and rubbed his chin. He too felt like he was suffering from a mild cold. "Is there a virus going around?"  
  
"I'm not exactly sure. He may have caught the little bug from the planet. I'd like everyone to be cautious while on the surface. More officers may have it, it might just attack the immune systems of those with allergies," Phlox explained.  
  
"I'm feeling a bit drowsy myself, doctor," Archer said. "But I'm sure I'll be fine on the planet surface."  
  
Phlox nodded and dismissed Archer. Reed would not be returning to work for a few days, until he was feeling much better.  
  
***  
  
In the next twenty-four hours, half the crew came down with the mysterious virus. All the senior officers except for Hoshi were ill. Hoshi and an array of crewman manned the bridge, while only a few were in engineering. It was a difficult task at first, but she had no other choice.  
  
Doctor Phlox made everyone who was sick stay in their quarters while he investigated the cause of the virus. The Denobulan found out the virus was from the planet itself and it was contagious by touch. It was spreading like an epidemic.  
  
***  
  
"I apologize that your people have fallen ill due to a bacteria in our air," Governor Nak apologized.  
  
"It's not your fault. We didn't see the virus on planetary scans before coming to your world," Archer said. "We must have over looked it…"  
  
Nak folded his hands after closing the connection. He knew why they had fallen ill and he didn't want to discuss the matter with the humans, who were outsiders. Their disposal agency had a spill several days ago and the matter was still being cleaned up.   
  
The governor didn't think any serious harm would come to their new allies, and he wanted to make sure such a minor matter derailed the treaty. Surely a simple cold was a small price to pay for such a positive first contact with the humans.  
  
***  
  
Archer relaxed in his chair and began sneezing. He slowly stood from his chair and reclaimed his bed. There was no way he could sit up any longer.  
  
He tapped his comm badge to check on Doctor Phlox, when he finally was lying on his comfortable bed.  
  
"Phlox, this is Archer. Status?" He wheezed.  
  
***  
  
Phlox was running around sickbay and trying to give something to the patients in the room. He injected an anti-hystemine in Travis and then waited. The pilot looked up with his dark eyes, hoping for the cold to go away.   
  
Then Phlox's badge beeped, "Phlox this is Archer. Status?"  
  
Phlox sighed and tapped his badge, "I'm afraid I've come down with this thing as well, captain. Plus, I have ten more patients. I've given a direct order for people to not touch each other, captain!  
  
"The virus is also mutating to a strain of influenza," Phlox told him.  
  
The captain didn't respond for a few minutes and then it sounded like he was cussing under his breath.  
  
***  
  
Hoshi tapped a few buttons on the control on her seat. She went through the information Phlox sent her way. She concurred that the virus had to be more than a virus. Possibly a chemical spill turned bad. The linguist rubbed her temples and laid her head on the head rest of the chair. She clenched her eyes, trying to clear her head.   
  
Why would someone try to infect the crew? What would they gain in doing so? These questions ran through her head as she gave the order for a crewman, any crewman, to run scans on the entire planet.   
  
"I want scan of the entire planet, but more intricate scans of the areas the crew has been and outlining areas," Hoshi ordered.  
  
Crewman Baird acknowledged her and went on. He was bored, since the ship was running on silent mode because of the skeleton crew. He was determined to get 


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
Trip could hear Hoshi's voice in sickbay as he sat in decon. Phlox wanted to try decon to get rid of the bacteria and naturally Trip was the genia pig. Hoshi was talking to Phlox about the disease, but he couldn't make her voice out. Hoshi's voice was music to his ears, he had missed her so much. If only he could touch her...  
  
"Hoshi!" Trip yelled out and pounded on the decon walls. "Hoshi!"He had to get her attention. There was important things he needed to tell her. Why wasn't she responding?  
  
He heard movement. Slight steps near the chamber and then breathing.  
  
"Yes?" she said, almost mischieviously. Part of her wanted to laugh that she hadn't gotten sick but Trip had. Malcolm had contact with him earlier before they figured out that the cold traveled by touch. Malcolm had brought Trip a PADD and their hands had touched long enough for the virus to travel to Trip. Hoshi was one of the few people who had made sure they weren't touching anyone. Sick or not.  
  
"What have you found?" Trip asked, coughing. Hoshi felt sorry for him.  
  
"Nothing much, I've been constantly having the governer hailed but he's not answering any calls. We think he may know something about the disease," her sing-song voice replied.  
  
"You gotta question Jos, I swear he has to know what's going on." Coughing continued.  
  
Hoshi waited for his coughing to subside and then she said, "Are you sure this isn't a vendetta of your's and you want him questioned because he's wronged you?"  
  
"Dammit Hoshi! I listen to your thoughts on matters, listen to me!"  
  
Hoshi was taken aback at first with his response. She looked around the sickbay and noticed people were stirring on their biobeds after that. She touched the glass above her where she could make out Trip breathing heavily against the wall.  
  
"All right," she sighed.  
  
"Maybe it's some sort of terrorist plot, I don't know. But Jos has to be part of it somehow. Maybe they're not trying to hurt us, just their people. Like on Earth in the 20th and 21st century," Trip wheezed.  
  
Hoshi nodded, it was very possible. She went for the door to sickbay when Trip yelled her name again. He then coughed and wheezed; like he couldn't breathe.  
  
"Yes, Trip?" she said.  
  
"I love you," he whispered.  
  
Hoshi knew he did, but it was conforting. It was also his way of telling her there might be trouble soon. "I love you too," she whispered as quietly as possible, without anyone but him hearing. He heard him sigh and slump onto the bench in the decon chamber. He was calm now.   
  
The linguist was no where's near calm. She knew something was about to go down and she would fight to figure this out. Even if it meant finding out dark things about the planet below. 


	5. Chapter Four

  
  
Chapter Four   
  
"Status?" Hoshi asked while drumming her fingers on the command chair's armrest.   
  
At first, the only response was a few beeps as the crewman tried to put all the pieces of the puzzle that lay in front of her together.   
  
"I've located a spill several miles away from the first away team landing. I've never seen chemicals like this before," Shannon O'Shay said with a slight frown. "The chemicals are foreign to what we have in our database but I'm pretty sure that this is what caused much of the crew to become ill."   
  
Hoshi could understand the crewman's concern. She was replacing someone who had suddenly become very ill.   
  
Hoshi was thankful she had stayed away from any and all physical contact. She thought about the spill and what to do.   
  
"Can we get a sample of the chemical and have Phlox scan it?"   
  
"We could try. Maybe we could lock onto some with the transporters and beam it into a canister?" the crewman said, impatiently pushing her long red hair out of her face so she could squint at he console again.   
  
"Get on it," Hoshi said, drumming her fingers once again. "I want Phlox to have a large enough sample that he can figure this out."   
  
"Aye, ma'am," Crewman O¹Shay said and began contacting engineering.   
  
Crewman Rossi and the rest of the bone-tired skeleton crew in engineering worked somberly on. There was too much to do, especially with three doing the work of 10.   
  
Rossi flashed a weary smile of thanks as he was handed a steaming cup of coffee. He was doing what everyone else was, simply carrying on.   
  
The call to beam up the toxic, foreign substance from the planet below only made matters worse. Two officers were needed to handle the beaming-up process to make sure no potentially deadly mistakes were made.   
  
Rossi rerouted the transporter to beam the substance directly into a container. One false move and the entire staff, and possibly the rest of the ship, would be contaminated. Diligence paid off. He had the cause of Enterprise¹s sickness before him.   
  
Rossi took the container to sickbay and an eagerly waiting Phlox.   
  
"We'll figure this out," he mumbled quietly. "We have to."   
  
"Why didn't you tell us there was an accident on your world caused by terrorists?" Hoshi raised her voice in frustration and anger "You could have help us out and none of us would have been infected."   
  
"We don't have a cure, that's why," Nak replied, scratching his leathery face.   
  
"You could have at least told us where the chemical was dumped," Hoshi sighed. "It's going to take us at least twelve more hours to figure this thing out."   
  
She was so angry with Governor Nak. Damn man was trying to save face and all she wanted to do was save the crew.   
  
"I am sorry, Ensign Sato. How is your captain doing?"   
  
How like Nak to change the subject away from his culpability.   
  
"He's in sickbay," she said curtly, not wanting him to know that Dr. Phlox had ordered Archer there to make sure he was resting and not working.   
  
Nak nodded.   
  
"We're trying to find out who is exactly responsible for this act of terrorism. When we do they will be imprisoned for their crimes. There is nothing more we can do."   
  
Hoshi mimicked Nak's nod before abruptly ending the transmission. She had nothing more to discuss with him.   
  
Captain Archer sat in the decon chamber with Sub-Commander T'Pol as they waited to be checked out by Phlox.   
  
Archer had his head in his hands, while T'Pol shivered despite the blanket that was wrapped around her slim form. The captain, on the verge of falling asleep, started suddenly when T'Pol began sneezing.   
  
Looking over at her, Archer noted that the Vulcan's face was totally drained and tired looking. Archer scooted near her and carefully put his arms around her, trying to warm her. He laughed to himself. He was too warm and she had the chills, how like Vulcans and humans to be at opposite ends.   
  
"Captain, that would not be wise," T'Pol replied, gesturing to his arms around her.   
  
"We're both sick, T'Pol. It's not like one of us will become sicker. You heard Phlox, he's close to finding a cure for this thing," Archer said. He knew his sub-commander was cold, even if she had a fever. He wasn't going to let her stay cold.   
  
T'Pol did not object any further. When the chills subsided, she fells asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. Archer didn¹t complain; he just held her closer and let himself relax.   
  



	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
Hoshi gathered up a small group of crewman to go down with her to the surface, this time making sure they wore environmental suits to prevent any further contamination. As they collected additional data in their quest to find the truth, Hoshi remembered an earlier conversation she had with Commander Tucker.  
  
"You gotta question Jos, I swear he has to know what's going on," Trip managed to get out between fits of coughing.  
  
Hoshi waited until Trip's coughing subsided before responding.  
  
"Are you sure this isn't a vendetta of yours and you want him questioned because he's wronged you?" she asked, the engineer's temper and lingering anger for the alien still clear in her mind.  
  
"Dammit Hoshi! I listen to your thoughts on matters, listen to me!"  
  
Hoshi was taken aback at first by his response. She looked around sickbay and noticed people were stirring on their biobeds after that.  
  
She touched the glass above her in a calming manner as she continued to gaze at Trip, who was breathing heavily as he leaned against the wall.  
  
"All right," she sighed, promising to question Jos after scanning for evidence on the planet below.  
  
Hoshi grimaced slightly as her team poured through the mess still littering the contamination site.  
  
"Ma'am, it's like these people don't know that finger prints are solid evidence and need to be taken right after something bad happens." Crewman Saunders pointed out. "There are prints everywhere on these containers, and we don't know what is new and what is old."  
  
"What I don't get is why they haven't cleaned this all up!" another crewman piped up. "There's still lots of waste here that's in the soil; no wonder they're still getting sick on this planet."  
  
Hoshi sighed. Dealing with a culture that was rather primitive in its health, biological sciences and technology was quite a headache. It seemed to her that it was only luck that kept them from having an environmental disaster in the past.  
  
"Well, Phlox surely has a cure now and we will share it with these people once we get to the bottom of this," Hoshi said. "Can you match the prints, Saunders?"  
  
The African-American woman nodded her head. "Piece of cake. I just have to scan the people and find someone. It would make it a whole lot easier if they knew what finger prints were and had DNA data on their people."  
  
"All right, let's go see Nak..."  
  
Governor Nak looked up in alarm as a pile of papers on his desk erupted into the air, hitting him full in the face.  
  
Hoshi pointed to the PADD she had just thrown onto Nak's desk.  
  
"I know who had a hand in all of this, Governor," Hoshi bit out between clenched teeth, her EV suit muffling her voice somewhat. "And your people really ought to clean the mess up better."  
  
Governor Nak looked confused. "I don't understand."  
  
"May I sit?" Hoshi asked, plopping down into a nearby plush chair without waiting for an answer.  
  
"You might be surprised the Jos and Malekar were in on the terrorist 'attack.' Then again, you might not be, since you were as well. My question to you is why did you harm your own people."  
  
Nak pressed a button on his desk and several armed men burst into the room.  
  
"I want you and your people to leave here immediately. Leave our world, our space and don't come back."  
  
There was a different look to the old man. He had gone from looking kind and confused to angry and vicious.  
  
Hoshi stood and motioned for the away team to head out the door. She removed her helmet, her long black tresses falling over her shoulders adding a soft edge to her stern face.  
  
Hoshi leaned over the desk and scowled at the Governor.  
  
"This isn't over."  
  
She strode out of the room and quickly called for them to be beamed back to Enterprise.  
  
"It was Nak all this time?" Archer asked. "I would have never guessed."  
  
"His prints matched some left behind at the scene," Hoshi said as she watched Phlox inoculate the captain and others. "He could have gone there after the fact to investigate for himself, but his reaction told us otherwise."  
  
Archer shook his head in disbelief. "Did you send the cure down to the surface?"  
  
"Phlox wanted to, but Governor Nak is refusing any more contact with us," Hoshi said with a shake of her head. "Besides, I have a feeling the terrorists have a cure."  
  
"We've got to do something about Jos and Nak!" Trip interrupted. "We can't let them hurt their own people."  
  
"I'm afraid Hoshi is right, we can't do anything about them. We can't meddle in their affairs," Archer replied.  
  
"I concur," T'Pol agreed. "There is nothing that we can do."  
  
Hoshi half cocked her head. "Nothing? Saunders and I have already planned to do something."  
  
The captain motioned for Hoshi to continue. He wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of whatever a pissed-off Hoshi Sato had in mind. 


End file.
